President George W. Bush took his unambitious views and goals on climate and stuck them into one mediocre speech Wednesday. Bush called for U.S. emissions to "slow over the next decade, stop by 2025, and begin to reverse thereafter," an aim far short of what other developed countries are suggesting and what experts think is needed. He relied, as ever, on "accelerating the development and deployment of new technologies." He gave a bear hug to nuclear power and coal. He decried raising taxes. He expressed concern about a patchwork of regulation, without initiating any overarching regulation. If Bush had hopes of convincing other countries that he's working to attack climate change, it was dissuaded at a Paris major economies meeting Thursday, where Germany said the speech was a step backward, South Africa declared the Bush administration "isolated," and an unnamed European official told Reuters, "This is disappointing. But Bush will be leaving office soon. What he says doesn't matter so much any more."
source: Agence France-Presse, Reuters, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times
see also, in Gristmill: David Roberts on the Bush speech, Various responses to the Bush speech
Comments
View as Threaded
Delay And Deny Posted 2:31 am
17 Apr 2008
Slow.
Stop.
Reverse.
It's everything we can hope for.
Bush set the stage from Day One for clean air and energy in the 21st Century.
Historians will look back in awe on his foresight and right minded policies.
Permalink
econpolyeco Posted 2:56 am
17 Apr 2008
Permalink
Pangolin Posted 3:28 am
17 Apr 2008
The man is a bona-fide idiot who can barely put a sentence together and relies on an earpiece to feed him talking points from his aides. He thinks he's somehow "winning" in Iraq even today.
Anybody who believes in George Bush should join the flat earthers, biblical literalists (Adam rode a dinosaur), Elvis cultist and other NASCAR fans in a Texas compound somewhere.
Permalink
Colin Wright Posted 3:56 am
17 Apr 2008
Permalink
Wolverine Posted 4:36 am
17 Apr 2008
And, BTW, Colin has it (w)right (sorry, I couldn't resist). And never focus on just the president, but focus instead on the entire administration. This one has greatly raised oil prices and secured a major military presence in the Middle East, which were the objectives of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Anyone who thinks people like Bush and Reagan are stupid is a fool. Just because you don't know what the ruling class is doing doesn't mean its members don't know what they're doing.
Permalink
Tasermons Partner Posted 5:14 am
17 Apr 2008
Stop.
Reverse.
It's everything we can hope for.
It is everything we can hope for...but in the wrong timeframe.
Permalink
GonzoDon Posted 2:29 am
18 Apr 2008
Who does he think is actually taking these kinds of speeches seriously and without well-earned cynicism any more?
The guy is an embarrassment to everything the U.S. used to stand for.
Permalink
DannyGirl Posted 2:47 am
22 Apr 2008
Permalink